Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Mark's anthropologist father has disappeared into the Gobi desert while tracing Marco Polo's ancient route from Venice to China. When Mark and his mother travel to Venice to gather information about Mark's missing dad, Mark meets Doc Hornaday, an old family friend and masterful spinner of historical tales. As Doc describes Marco Polo's adventures—sailing through pirate waters to where the desert begins, following the sunrise and the way of the Greek wind, crossing the broad plains and sand wastes where troves of bandits away—Mark finds himself falling under the spell of the story that has transfixed the world for centuries. Newbery Honor winner Alan Armstrong's third novel, backed by extensive research, brings to life Marco's remarkable journey from Venice to China, where he spent seventeen years in the court of the mighty Kublai Khan.

Alan Armstrong|Tim Jessell

About Alan Armstrong

Alan Armstrong started volunteering in a friend’s bookshop when he was eight. At 14, he was selling books at Brentano’s. As an adult, every so often, he takes to the road in a VW bus named Zora to peddle used books. He is the editor of Forget Not Mee & My Garden, a collection of the letters of Peter Collinson, the 18th-century mercer and amateur botanist. He lives with his wife, Martha, a painter, in Massachusetts.

About Tim Jessell

TIM JESSELL'S work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibitions, receiving the Society's Gold Medal Award. He is also the winner of AdWeek Magazine's Illustrator of the Year. His work can be seen in the bestselling series Secrets of Droon, Superhero Christmas (written by Stan Lee of Marvel Comics), and covers for the reissue of Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Newbery Honor Books. Tim has been a guest speaker to professional graphic communication groups and enjoys speaking to student groups as well.